One-way motor way or street



C. T. ELDREDGE ONE-WAY MOTOR WAY OR STREET.

May Z4, 1927;

Filed July '7. 1924 l D A Lie: lvm w22 Om 5. i4

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ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 24, 1927.

CLYDE ELDREDGE, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA@ ONE-WAY MOTOR Application filed July 7,

This invention relates to street construction to meet the congested conditions of modern automobile trallic. The objects of the invention are to provide first a unique arrangement of parallel lanes of traflic designed for successively increasing speeds of travel and of a dead or parkingurea adjacent the slowest lane of trallic whereby from the parking area a vehicle may pass successively to the fastest travel lane, or iii the reverse direction to the parking area to discharge passengers or for repairs.

The invention also contemplates the use of the street for one way traffic onlyj all the lanes being for the same direction of travel but at ditferent speeds. also the designation of the lanes at intervals to denote the maximum speed of travelor both maximum and minimum so as to prevent blocking of ,traffic by a vehicle moving too slow on a high speed lane-also of special concrete construction to promote the travel of vehicles along the lanes, to reduce the tendency of vehicles to skid in passing from one lane to the other, of guide lines to more clearly designate the proper position of vehicles upon the lanes7 of varying reinforcement of the lanes, under the lines of' pressure of the wheels to provide greater durability at the slow speed lane upon which all trucks and heavy shipping must' travel, also to provide special construction of the concrete slab embracing slott-ing both longitudinal and transversely of the street to compensate .in a large degree for the effects of varying` temperature upon the surface of the slab.

The above objectsrtogetlier with other de# sirable features in street or road construction are attained by the arrangementshown in the accompanying' drawings and in which:

Figure l is a plan of a one-way street have threelanes of travel and one parking lane arranged in accordance with my inven# tion. Figure 2 is an end elevation ofFigure 1 showing the road in cross section and the imbedded reinforcements. Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the special compensating'slots and Figui-e4 is an enlarged cross section of a fragment of the surface grooving of the pavement as shown along lines 4 4 of Figure l. In Figui-elv the full breadth of the street is indicated showing at both sides a portion of the side walks 1 and the opposite curbs 2. The 'direction of travel on this street is presumed to be in the direction of the arrows. The park- WAY on srnnn'r,

1924. Serial No. 724,625.

ing lane is designated A, the slow speed or trucking lane includes the two wheel racking areas B. B., the next higher speed lane the two track areas C. C. and the highest speed lane the two track areas DD.

lt will be noted that. the highest speed lane is djacent the curb and has no parking' saace between it and the curb, for the only parking; space contemplated in the complete carrying. out of my invention is the lane A adjacent the opposite curb and slovy traliic or trucking' lane B.

Vlllee tracl'ng areas B C, and D are preferabij,Y of smooth concrete so as to produce the minimum amount of wear on the tires, and each track is about 2O inches wide and preferably marked with parallel grooves `3 manner similar to the way in which sidewalks are marked off so as to clearly define the trackingl areas. vThe general surface of the street along a cross sectional line is prefeinbl)Y substantially flat, though it may be slightly arched or tipped in some localities to guide the rain water if desired. Y

Between the respective tracking areas B, C and D, the concrete surface is roughened so as to prevent skilding of the vehicles in swinging from one lane to the other at high speed or in slippery weather. This roughening may take any form but I preferably n Vaccomplish it byy a system of angular groovlng l in which the grooves slant from both sides of the individual tracks toward Athe track when traveling` along the lane iii the direction ofthe arrows and through which arrangen'ientthe wheels of avehicle are to a certain extent automatically guided back to the coi'rectpath of travel should they leave it in the darkness. This grooving need not be mechanically perfect as it may be the result of sweeping the surface with a coarse broom or of otherwise impressing the features in the surface of the concrete before setting. l

At intervals along the respective lanes the maximum speeds permissible may vbe impressed as indicated at l5, 30, and 40, so as to be read by the passing driver. and if desired the minimum speed may also be indicated,I though this may always be assumed `to be above that of the maximum speed of the adjacent slower lane.

In sect-ion the street comprises a slab 5 of concrete of varying thickness being thinnest at the parking' lane and thickest under the slow speed or trucking lane B. The travel ina` ico

portion is preferably supported on a rock or gravel base 6 and under each track is a. reinforcing,` rib or girder 7 also resting` on ay rock foundation 6.

ln constructing` the street the rock itounda tion is preferably well rolled and allowed to season or settle tor a sniiieient leneth ot time before layingthe concrete1 and trenches are ent through it and the removed rock rammed in the bottom oi!Vx the trenchesI to lorm a toundation 'for the girders 7.

Under the heavy trucking; lane tracks the girders are preferably reinforced by steel Lbeams 8 suitably jeinet together and inibedded in vthe concrete, whereas uriner the lighter traliic lanes the gir-ders are reinforced with any ordinary `concrete reinforcing bars spaced indicated at 9. Longitudinally and at intervals along the street the slab is slotted as indicated at lt) and these slots are oi. a depth about equal to thel normal thickness ot the slab and are aligned over a concrete giroer T also reinioreed by bars 9.

It will be seen that the slot beingn ot' a depth about equal in depth to the slab thickness virtually separates the slab though it not actually separated on account ot the reinforcing concrete girder T itorined under the slot. rPhis slot allows tor the adjustment ot the concrete surface t'or temperature changes .tor it is manitest that in a block of concrete imbedded in the earth the heat of the sun is localized on the outer surface to a great extent and rapidly diminishes downward within the body of the material nthus for instance-a concrete post stuck in the earth would expand and contract at and above the earth but not at all at its lower end within the earth.

'This results in a progressive change of temperature :trom a maximum at the outer surface ot the road slab to a` minin'iuin at the imbedded under surface and while it is possible that in settling ot the street or exeessiv-e expansion, the L.fgirder 7 might crack adjacent the slot-it would not ordinarily do so and would not matter if it did, for it would still be supported along this line.

This feature clearly shown in Figure 3 was partially disclosed in my eo-pending application Serial #571,602 tiled June 29.5 1922 but was not shown as here developed and which I consider an improvement in concrete street construction especially when the entire i highways as well and are so intended-to be covered by my appended claims.

I claim:

l. ln a concrete street or highway, a pair ot spaced smooth tracking areast'or road vehicles with a arooved surface formed on the .street adjacent the tracking' areas*having` gfrooves.y extending at an angle to the smooth tracking' areas. Y

2. ln a concrete street or liiglnv'ay, a pair of spaced smooth trackingl areas tor road vehiclee with a grooved surface formed on the street adjacent the tracking` areas having grooves co'i'ivereingf trom the outsides toward the smooth areas with reference to the intended direction oi travel of a vehicle alone; the areas.

3. A. street paving comprising` a slab of' concrete covering the road Yay with a transversely extending' concrete girder thereunder termed integrally with the slab, anda slot in the slab alignedV over the `g'irder eX- tendine trom the surface of the slabdownwardly a` distance substantially equal to the thickness of the slab.

A street paving` comprising a slab ot concrete coveringsY the roadway with spaced transversely extending` concrete girders thereuinler and a similar girder extending loi'ie'itudinally ot the street under the slab. said lejirders being' joined integrally with the slab, and slots in the slab aligned one over Aeach `girder and extending itrom the surface ot the slab down to the girder.

otros kr.' ernennen 

